Girye Ultra Mega Power Project

Girye Ultra Mega Power Project is one of nine Ultra Mega Power Projects proposed by the government of India as part of a strategy to add an additional 100,000 megawatts of generation capacity by 2017. The 4,000 megawatt project is in the state of Maharastra.

Opposition to coal power station plan
In 2007 the Hindustan Times' reported that the site for the project was selected "after the Central Electricity Commission carried out a detailed feasibility study and gave its go-ahead completely overlooking sensitivities of local alphonso growers." (Alphonso is another name for a variety of mango). The newspaper reported that the "3,000-acre piece of land originally earmarked for the project spreads over four villages with a population of about 4,000." It was also reported that the project was opposed by "a determined group of alphonso mango farmers who have refused to yield even an inch of their land" for the project as there is no alternative land available for alphonso farming.

The Hindustan Times reported that of the 9 locations initially selected for Ultra Mega Power Project "three including Girye in Maharashtra, Akaltara in Chattisgarh and Tadri in Karnataka may have to be eventually abandoned. Despite being a pit head project, the Akaltara project has been dogged by coal linkage issues, while the Tadri project has been delayed due to various reasons, including the unstable political situation in Karnataka."

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